[Pre-Chorus: Scary & Ginger]
I'll tell you what I want, what I really really wantSo tell me what you want, what you really really want
I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really really really wanna zig-a-zig ah

[Chorus: All]
If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends
(Gotta get with my friends)
Make it last forever friendship never ends
If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give (You've got to give)
Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is

[Chorus: All]
If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends
(Gotta get with my friends)
Make it last forever friendship never ends
If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give (You've got to give)
Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is

I loved them. Immediately. The studio was pretty small, and they all sat on one chair on each other’s laps in a line. I don’t know how they managed it…They were like no one I’d met before, really.

The song was written and recorded quickly. Victoria (Posh) missed the writing session for the track, though tried to pitch in over the phone. The song’s divvied up among the girls equally, except for Posh, who contributed only backing vocals to the track. She regretted missing out. In her 2004 autobiography Learning to Fly, she recalled: “I just couldn’t bear not being there. Because whatever they said about how it didn’t matter, it did matter.”

The label did not like the first outcome of the song, and got producer Dave Way to give the track an R&B influenced backing track. The group didn’t think this was the right vibe, and eventually sent it to be mixed by Mark “Spike” Stent. This became the final version of the song.

Their label wanted “Say You’ll Be There” to be the band’s debut single, however the group fought for this song. Eventually got their way.

Musically, “Wannabe” is an uptempo dance-pop and rap song with hints of hip-hop. Its lyrics addresses the value of female friendship over a female-male bond. It soon after became an iconic symbol of female empowerment and one of the group’s most popular songs.